Here's the story of my "ditch trip".

rusty

Turbocharged
Joined
Aug 23, 2006
Messages
735
Location
Northwest, MO.
Ride
2005 Rocket III
Hey everyone (that wants to know), here's what happened.

6 of us were heading north out of ES and Tomo picked up something in the rear rubber & was loosing air (Danno believes he saw the flat tire culprit, a bungee cord "S" hook). He, Flip & Danno pulled off into a business drive to make the repairs and Pianoman, Gunshots & I, after realizing the others were no longer behind us, pulled off to wait. After about 10 minutes we tried to call them but was no phone service. So I was volunteered to go check things out. I didn't realize I had drove past the group & Danno caught up with me (he said he about wore out his horn trying to get my attention). I slowed & turned the bike around (on a narrow 2 lane black top with practically no shoulder) and came to a stop to chat with Danno, but at that last split second before the bike came to rest I saw there was no place to put my right foot (the pavement dropped off sharply), but it was too late. Without footing on the right side, the old gal & I went right into the ditch. Well, the bike was practically up-side-down with the tires still on the road and the shiny side below the road surface. Danno looked over & saw nothing but the bottom of my bike (he did not actually see me go over the edge). He came over & we tried to pick the bike up but we could barely lift it much at all. A passer-by came to help but with 3 of us we could still not lift it. I realized the tires needed to be off the road (so we weren't lifting the entire 800+ lbs of the fat bottom girl) so we dragged the bike a little more into the ditch, during which time another passer-by arrived to assist. All 4 of us (and I was about spent by this time and I have to believe Danno was getting tired from repeated tries) finally got the old girl up. I would guess she was "inverted" for about 10 minutes (seemed like forever), I straddled her and she started right up (surprise). I tried to get her to roll back onto the pavement but the front tire would not climb the ledge, it just kept scooting along. So the plan was to travel in the ditch (which was full of weeds & kinda soft due to the rain) to the nearest driveway. This was not easy as all & during that process & dropped her again to the left. Everyone was still there so they all came over to pick her up again, during which time I found a series of cuss words to throw together into a sentence or two that sounded pretty cool (yea, right!). Danno lead me out of the bog to the driveway at which time I felt I didn't have enough strength left to even sit on her & keep her upright. After a few moments of rest (allowing Danno to walk back to get his ride), we proceeded to catch up with the others.

The right side mirror broke off at the threaded stud, the handlebars came around hard & got into the fuel tank on the right, just beside another small dent. The windshield took a pretty good blow & was shoved back & to the left considerably (everything in tact, just distorted). The throttle/brake housing was rolled around the handlebar about 15 degrees (at least the brake lever was in tact) and the right side highway peg was also misaligned. The dent in the tank "might" be big enough to hold a small fried egg so it's not that drastic.

I still re-live that moment, shake my head and say: "If only I would have ..........." But I didn't & here we are. I did say a prayer, thankful that the old girl was able to get me home. I started to work on her last night after a day of rest, removed the shield, straightened the throttle/front brake & highway peg. I tried to straighten the throttle cable elbows at the grip but I don't think they are salvageable. There is a tank on E-bay but it also has dents so I'll keep looking. Maybe this winter I'll have a buddy put a paint job on her & change her appearance, although I think the Cardinal Red is choice.

I'm not feeling any issues with the fall. I only wish I could say the same for the ol' Red Gal.

See ya.
 
Wow.. .sorry to hear that, Rusty, but glad to hear you're okay. You'll have the ol' girl back up and looking good in no time, I'm sure.. :) You are right about the red.. Yours, Brtiman's and Dave's bikes were looking sharp!
 
As if ES...

wasn't enough fun, you had to go and add some more.:eek:

Glad to hear you are ok. I like the glass half full approach (like Tonymac), laying her down is a great opportunity to upgrade the paint!:D
 
In the split second that I saw the bike overturned, I panicked and almost did the same thing myself on the other side of the road. The shoulder couldn't have been more that 2 feet wide and dropped off about 8 inches on the right side. I was also worried because we were in between two pretty sharp bends in the road and someone could come around one and hit the bike that was partially in the road. I was envisioning Rusty's right leg being squashed into hamburger, but he had the presence of mind to bail off. I hope all ends well with the bike repairs, but I'm especially glad that there were no injury's.
 
Hey everyone (that wants to know), here's what happened.

I know that riding home looking at the tank and other damage had to be more punishment than the bruises and scrapes. Don't beat yourself up to much. The damage is all cosmetic and at least the RFBG took ya home.
 
Rusty,

Glad you're OK. Just goes to show us all that the big gals we ride are massive, :eek: get that much weight going in the wrong direction and it takes no time for a bad thing to happen, something we should all remember while riding them! I'm sure you will get the RFBG fixed in short order. We'll all laugh about it at RAA IV, first round is on me!

Regards, Lonnie
 
You know it all Tom's fault. Those **** killer bungee cords. Glad you are OK. I would have thought you would have had allot of practice with uneven terrain at the Pine Lodge. Get her fixed and ready for next year.
 
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